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Wild promises about policing from Labour’s new candidate

Labour’s new prospective parliamentary candidate for Loughborough, Nottingham-based lawyer Stuart Brady, has promised that a future Labour government would provide 10,000 extra police officers which would, apparently, “make a big difference to Shepshed”.Brady’s claim is based on announcement by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott on 2 May 2017:“We are now this morning pledging £300 million from the £2.7 billion we will save by reversing Capital Gains Tax, to put 10,000 more police officers on our streets.”However, neither Abbott nor indeed Brady, has explained how this would work. £300 million would cover the basic salaries of 10,000 police officers for one year and would not include the costs of equipment, overheads and training. Moreover, Labour had already promised to spend the money that it claims would be saved by reversing the cutting capital gains tax elsewhere.It is also debatable whether there is a direct link between the number of police officers and the level of crime. When the Conservative government cut police funding in 2010 the Police Federation predicted that there would be a rise in crime but numbers continued to fall. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the overall crime levels in England and Wales are stable. Even the Guardian, which is normally sympathetic to the Labour Party, has suggested that the impact of 10,000 extra police officers would “at the very least” be “debatable”.STATISTICS Labour has proposed to spend an extra £300 million on policing but the average cost of a police officer in Leicestershire is £81,000 – 2,100 with a budget of £171 million. This means that £300 million would only lead to an extra 3,684 police officers.The size of Leicestershire Police relative to the rest of the United Kingdom means that if these extra 3,684 officers were distributed evenly across the country, the county would receive 1.7% of the total – in other words 62 extra officers. To the latest Home Office statistics only 77% police officers are constables and so this would mean an extra 48 police constables in Leicestershire.The population of Leicestershire is 609,578 Leicestershire and the population of Shepshed 13,505 (both according to the latest census) – meaning that Shepshed constitutes 2.2% of the county. Assuming that these police officers were distributed evenly this would mean that it would receive one extra constable and they would, obviously, only be able to work a certain number of hours every week and weeks every year because of rest and holidays. Therefore, even if Labour could find this extra £300 million the impact would be negligible.Labour has also been unclear about whether this extra £300 million is on top of what the present government is already spending. In December 2017, for instance, the government announced funding of the police was due to increase by £450 million in 2018.

Wild promises about policing from Labour’s new candidate

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Labour’s new prospective parliamentary candidate for Loughborough, Nottingham-based lawyer Stuart Brady, has promised that a future Labour government would provide 10,000 extra police officers which would, apparently, “make a big difference to Shepshed”.Brady’s claim is based on announcement by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott on 2 May 2017:“We are now this morning pledging £300 million from the £2.7 billion we will save by reversing Capital Gains Tax, to put 10,000 more police officers on our streets.”However, neither Abbott nor indeed Brady, has explained how this would work. £300 million would cover the basic salaries of 10,000 police officers for one year and would not include the costs of equipment, overheads and training. Moreover, Labour had already promised to spend the money that it claims would be saved by reversing the cutting capital gains tax elsewhere.It is also debatable whether there is a direct link between the number of police officers and the level of crime. When the Conservative government cut police funding in 2010 the Police Federation predicted that there would be a rise in crime but numbers continued to fall. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) the overall crime levels in England and Wales are stable. Even the Guardian, which is normally sympathetic to the Labour Party, has suggested that the impact of 10,000 extra police officers would “at the very least” be “debatable”.STATISTICS Labour has proposed to spend an extra £300 million on policing but the average cost of a police officer in Leicestershire is £81,000 – 2,100 with a budget of £171 million. This means that £300 million would only lead to an extra 3,684 police officers.The size of Leicestershire Police relative to the rest of the United Kingdom means that if these extra 3,684 officers were distributed evenly across the country, the county would receive 1.7% of the total – in other words 62 extra officers. To the latest Home Office statistics only 77% police officers are constables and so this would mean an extra 48 police constables in Leicestershire.The population of Leicestershire is 609,578 Leicestershire and the population of Shepshed 13,505 (both according to the latest census) – meaning that Shepshed constitutes 2.2% of the county. Assuming that these police officers were distributed evenly this would mean that it would receive one extra constable and they would, obviously, only be able to work a certain number of hours every week and weeks every year because of rest and holidays. Therefore, even if Labour could find this extra £300 million the impact would be negligible.Labour has also been unclear about whether this extra £300 million is on top of what the present government is already spending. In December 2017, for instance, the government announced funding of the police was due to increase by £450 million in 2018.